The First Annual Brock University Black Girl Magic Conference is taking place on Saturday, March 18th and everyone who is passionate about Woman of Colour empowerment and leadership are welcome to attend (yes, you can be white and/or a male to attend). This event is also FREE.

This day will involve presentations, workshops, and performances from Brock students and community members along with a keynote presentation from Akio Maroon, a recognized human rights advocate focusing on equity, anti-oppression and inclusion, and social justice.

All bodies are not considered equal, all bodies are not valued the same and all bodies are not subject to the same regulations and control. The State places restrictions on what you do with your own body and what others can do to your body with/out your consent. This may be acted out through the guise of protection, public morality, in the name of nationalism, security or religion, but the limitations placed on some bodies and not others, and the impunity for violence to some bodies and not others, makes it clear that oppression, discrimination and subjugation are not only at work but sanctioned through state protections.

Join ex-prisoners, academics, activists, artists and health care workers for discussion and strategies toward the abolition of the prison industrial complex in this March 6 pre-International Women’s Day event.

In honour of International Women’s Day (March 8), “A Symposium for Women, Punishment and Prison Abolition: How gender Structures the Prison System” (March 6) draws on Angela Davis’ observation that gender is at the heart of structuring the prison industrial complex. With the incarceration of women and gender non-conforming persons statistically outpacing that of men, the 21st century is continuing an upward trend that started in the late 1980s. While women and gender non-conforming persons are 5 percent of all prisoners in Canada, their numbers are growing. Among other issues, this leads to overcrowding, underfunding of in-prison health resources, low emphasis on in-prison programs and pre-release planning, high recidivism due to under-resourced post-release programs, and, negative impacts for women’s families and communities.

Cultivating Resilience: Organizing resistance in an era of populist fascism

We will be examining local and international rise of fascism and counter resistance through groups such as the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM) and the Movement for Black Lives specifically Black Lives Matter. From base building to mass disruptions, how to identify one’s role in dismantling oppression and re-envisioning the future. We will discuss an A-Z approach to organizing through pivoting at the base of privilege while cultivating resiliency.

Members of Strutt along with Native Youth Sexual Health Network, No More Silence, Families of Sisters in Spirit and the Indigenous Sex Sovereignty Collective, are hosting a confidential/private/invite-only national gathering from November 14-16, 2014 in Toronto of people with experience trading or selling sex and some of our trusted allies